Buff's Shock No. 3 Oklahoma

Associated Press
Originally published 03:13 p.m., September 29, 2007

Just as Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops predicted, the third-ranked Sooners couldn’t run it up on Colorado.

In fact, the Sooners couldn’t even beat the Buffaloes.

Kevin Eberhart kicked a career-long 45-yard field goal as time expired to send Colorado past the stunned Sooners 27-24 Saturday.

It was the Buffaloes’ first win over a top-five team since Dec. 1, 2001, when they bested Texas in the Big 12 title game.

After Eberhart’s kick cleared the crossbar, the fans stormed the field as the dejected Sooners, who had blown a 24-7 second-half lead, walked off, their hopes of a national championship having taken a major hit.

The Sooners (4-1, 0-1 big12) came in averaging a whopping 61.5 points to lead the nation. But behind a tough defense, the Buffs (3-2, 1-0 big12) earned their biggest win under Dan Hawkins, who went 2-10 in his inaugural season last year.

The Buffaloes trailed 24-7 after Allen Patrick scored from 17 yards out following safety D.J. Wolfe’s second interception of Buffs quarterback Cody Hawkins. His first one led to Juaquin Iglesias’ 13-yard TD catch in the first half.

But Oklahoma, which had scored 50-plus points in each of their first four games, was stifled after that, and Colorado outgained the Sooners 219 yards to 46 in the second half.

Colorado began its comeback with Eberhart’s 41-yarder to make it 24-10 in the third quarter.

After Ryan Walters picked off Sam Bradford, Hawkins hit Tyson DeVree for the score on fourth-and-goal from the 4, pulling Colorado to 24-17 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Bradford, who was the second rated passer in the nation entering the game, finished 8-for-19 for 112 yards with two interceptions and was outplayed by Hawkins, the Colorado coaches’ son.

The redshirt freshman was 22-for-36 for 219 yards and two touchdowns.

The Sooners gave the Buffs a huge assist in their comeback when Reggie Smith muffed a fair catch and Colorado’s Justin Drescher recovered at the OU 16.

Four plays later, Colorado tied it on Hawkins’ 15-yard touchdown strike to Dusty Sprague with 4:05 remaining.

The Buffs forced another punt and Chase McBride’s 33-yard return set up Colorado at midfield. Hawkins drove the Buffs to the 27, where Eberhart made the game-winner to give Colorado its biggest upset in years.

Oklahoma led 17-7 at halftime after managing just one long scoring drive, a three-play, 80-yarder that ended with Patrick’s 34-yard TD run.

The Sooners went three-and-out on their first two possessions but got great field position on their next drive when Wolfe picked off Hawkins and returned it 33 yards to the Buffaloes 11.

The Sooners lost two yards on their first two runs, then Bradford hit Iglesias for a 13-yard touchdown — and Oklahoma’s first first down — with 1:40 left in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.

The Buffs then tied it at 7 when pulling guard Devin Head opened a hole for tailback Hugh Charles, who scampered in from 25 yards out in the second quarter.

The Buffs announced before the game that star freshman tailback Brian Lockridge would sit out with a concussion, which he suffered at practice on Tuesday. Lockridge had been the Buffs’ primary tailback since they burned the redshirt on him two weeks ago.

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UT, OU Stumble Into Rumble...
"The Longhorns, who have won two straight in the series, appeared to be underdogs to OU because they had trouble putting away wins over Arkansas State, TCU and Central Florida.
As crazy as it sounds after Brown's worst home loss in 10 seasons as coach, Texas feels it can hang with the Sooners thanks to OU's breakdown in Boulder."